There is a local thrift store in Livermore, CA that has a great selection of used Christian books. It seems like every time I walk in there I find a great book at a great price. This past week, I stopped in and found "An Unstoppable Force" by Erwin McManus for $2. Previously, I had picked up "Uprising" by McManus for the same price. Now these were great finds for me, but I was a little sad because based on the condition of both books, it was clear that, while they weren't new, neither had ever been read.Now, no book can be a substitute for seriously studying the Bible, but there are some authors, who, having based their writing on Scripture, can help us to have a better understanding of biblical concepts in the same way that a great sermon can get us to think more deeply about God and His plan for our lives. McManus is one of those authors for me. "Seizing Your Divine Moment" (Now "Chasing Daylight") was the book that helped me to see God's call for me to go into full-time ministry. "The Barbarian Way" helped my youth group and me see that God doesn't call us to a neat, clean and organized faith, but a raw and primitive passion. Right now, "Soul Cravings" is helping me to deal with the issues of intimacy, destiny and meaning.
Each one of the books that I have read by Erwin McManus has left a distinct impact on my life. And I know that I am happy to have found them for such a cheap price. But I wonder what would have happened had the people who donated these books actually read them and kept them. I would not have found them on a book shelf at a thrift store, but perhaps they could have had a substantial impact on someone else's life. How would their lives be different? How would they have affected their relationship with God?
As I look at my book shelf, it is filled with books that I have never read nor have plans to read. How might those book affect my life if I were to read them? Or perhaps if I were to give them away, who might they bring closer to God? What good are books that we never read other than to sit on a bookshelf proclaiming to the world, "Look how many books I have!!!" (Oh how I love books!)?
Just something to think about...
God doesn't call us to a neat, clean and organized faith, but a raw and primitive passion.
ReplyDeleteThis line kind of jumped out at me. I would be interested in hearing you expand on it...
In the Barbarian Way, McManus draws attention to the fact that God seldom called the people that one might expect. Many times, the people that God called to do his work were outcasts with an almost Barbarian appearance and mentality. He points to John the Baptist whose lifestyle was anything but conformed to Jewish culture of that day; Jephthah who was kicked out of his family and roamed as a mercenary for hire until God elevated him to be judge over Israel; and of course the disciples of Jesus who were fisherman.
ReplyDeleteAll this to say, McManus points out that we are in a Spiritual War and we need to be prepared for Spiritual Warfare. We need Sound Doctrine along with a "barbarian-like" boldness to proclaim it and live it.
Too many Christians are content to live a intellectual faith that never goes beyond the church walls. It's a safe faith where I'm free to believe what I want and you're free to believe what you want, but let's not offend anyone.
So when I say, "God doesn't call us to a neat, clean and organized faith, but a raw primitive passion," I believe this means, that we can't compartmentalize our lives or even order our days, but rather we need to be prepared for anything, just like a soldier is prepared for anything during war. There is order in worship and the church in the same way that there is order in the ranks of the military and this order will keep us grounded as we face battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. However, it can't be just out of a sense of duty. If to proclaim the gospel is to be our mission, then it must also become our passion; instinctual: as raw and primitive as our need eat and our need to breathe.